Magnetic recording files such as hard disk drives are commonly known in the art. Hard disk drives typically employ a plurality of magnetic read/write heads on the end of movable suspension actuator arms to interact with magnetic disks. As the demand for higher capacity disk drives increases, the disk-to-disk spacing has been reduced. Hence, the suspensions are getting closer to the disks.
Because of these close-fitting requirements, hard disk drives must be able to withstand some shock vibration such as that experienced during handling. In some applications, hard disk drives must also be able to survive high G-force impacts. Shock vibration can cause the stainless steel actuator arms to come into contact with the magnetic disks and scratch them, or produce contamination particles. These particles can damage the disks and cause slider crashes. During the head stack assembly process, a separator clip is inserted between each of the suspensions. The insertion and removal of the separator generates particles due to the sharp edges of the flexure stainless steel. The separator also touches the conductive traces and may damage the gold coating, thereby creating reliability concerns.
One way to reduce the risk of particle generation is to add flanges on the flexure sides of the suspension. Unfortunately, this will add extra material to the suspension and one more forming process step to its manufacture. These disadvantages would add additional cost to the disk drive. An inexpensive device or feature is needed to eliminate contamination during the head separation process and to protect the traces and disks in high shock environments.